Bubble Tip Anemone Problems

[deceptionONE]

Hey guys,

I'm having trouble with my Anemone's, basically since i got them about 6 months ago when i first introduced them into my tank they were big, all the bubbles were nice and big for the first two weeks or so, then they started to shrivel and lose color and they move and wedge them selve into cracks between the live rock and that is where they stay until i re arrange my rock during my monthly 25% water changes (please note i clean my filtration one fortnightly).

Also after my last water change one of my two Anemone has split into two and from what i have read on google this is not a good sign.

i have been working for months to get these guys looking good with no positive results and i'm stumped on what to do further.

Tank is 4ft and around 280L (74 gal)
Salinity: 1.020
PH: 8.0
nh3/nh4: 0 ppm
no2: 0 ppm
no3: 0 ppm
po4: 0.08 ppm (this only spiked in the last week it is usually 0 ppm)

I Syringe feed the Anemone once a week with micro plankton and every now and then i feed them live earthworms.

If you need any further information about my tank please ask.

All help will be greatly appreciated

 

[tvu]

What are you you using for lighting? That's also a key component to keeping anemones

 

[deceptionONE]

I have two 3ft LED lights one is white and the other is blue, they have three brightness settings on them. i had the white set to its highest and the blue set to the second highest but changed the white to the second highest setting last week. They were not cheap lights

 

[hotelbravo]

well first off I would stop feeding micro plankton and earthworms. if your going to feed them then go with something very nutritious like squid, clam, oyster, scallop, shrimp, and small fish. buy them all fresh from local fish markets or whatever you have access to and chop whichever you buy up into small pieces except the clam and oyster as they are very easy for the anemone to digest whole.
a healthy bubble tip does not actually need to be fed with proper lighting it can get all the food it requires from the light. that being said they grow faster and bigger being hand fed.

anemones like to move around and find their own spots so when they move under the rocks its for a reason either they aren't happy with your lighting and they want some shade or may just be looking for less flow or what ever the case may be they should be allowed to do this. do not rearrange the rock work when they do it. it will only add to the stress of the animal.

BTA's shrivel very consistently its how they expel waste and the water they have absorbed. its nothing to be alarmed about usually. what to look for is a gaping and largely protruded mouth.

as far as losing color goes they can shed zooxanthelle which are tiny organisms that grow inside them using algae to photosenthisize light into food sources for the anemone. its where their color comes from also. they may shed this zoox when stressed and with supplemental feedings it will come back but if they lose ALL of their zoox they can no longer gain any energy from light and require to be hand fed for survival. one option is to do a zoox transplant to add some zoox back into their body so that it may reproduce and regain color and health. however keep in mind the zoox transplant is only for entirely bleached anemones not partially.

 

[hotelbravo]

I have two 3ft LED lights one is white and the other is blue, they have three brightness settings on them. i had the white set to its highest and the blue set to the second highest but changed the white to the second highest setting last week. They were not cheap lights

make and model along with watts or par readings to determine if they are suitable for an anemone. though BTA's require about the least of any anemone they still need good lighting. not all leds are good even some that aren't cheap are still insufficient.

 

[deceptionONE]

make and model along with watts or par readings to determine if they are suitable for an anemone. though BTA's require about the least of any anemone they still need good lighting. not all leds are good even some that aren't cheap are still insufficient.

Eco Lamp
KR96
22W
PAR not stated
10% 50% 100% settings
no uv or ir damage

 

[deceptionONE]

well first off I would stop feeding micro plankton and earthworms. if your going to feed them then go with something very nutritious like squid, clam, oyster, scallop, shrimp, and small fish. buy them all fresh from local fish markets or whatever you have access to and chop whichever you buy up into small pieces except the clam and oyster as they are very easy for the anemone to digest whole.
a healthy bubble tip does not actually need to be fed with proper lighting it can get all the food it requires from the light. that being said they grow faster and bigger being hand fed.

anemones like to move around and find their own spots so when they move under the rocks its for a reason either they aren't happy with your lighting and they want some shade or may just be looking for less flow or what ever the case may be they should be allowed to do this. do not rearrange the rock work when they do it. it will only add to the stress of the animal.

BTA's shrivel very consistently its how they expel waste and the water they have absorbed. its nothing to be alarmed about usually. what to look for is a gaping and largely protruded mouth.

as far as losing color goes they can shed zooxanthelle which are tiny organisms that grow inside them using algae to photosenthisize light into food sources for the anemone. its where their color comes from also. they may shed this zoox when stressed and with supplemental feedings it will come back but if they lose ALL of their zoox they can no longer gain any energy from light and require to be hand fed for survival. one option is to do a zoox transplant to add some zoox back into their body so that it may reproduce and regain color and health. however keep in mind the zoox transplant is only for entirely bleached anemones not partially.

Can i feed them fresh water fish, Plattys, Mollies, swords, Guppie?

 

[hotelbravo]

Can i feed them fresh water fish, Plattys, Mollies, swords, Guppie?

most people advise against feeding ANYTHING that is saltwater something that is freshwater. over time it will harm the digestive systems of most saltwater animals.
I would not.

Eco Lamp
KR96
22W
PAR not stated
10% 50% 100% settings
no uv or ir damage

I do not believe that light is powerful enough for any anemone. its pretty weak. sure its pretty and adjustable and not so cheap but it is NOT powerful.

 

[deceptionONE]

most people advise against feeding ANYTHING that is saltwater something that is freshwater. over time it will harm the digestive systems of most saltwater animals.
I would not.



I do not believe that light is powerful enough for any anemone. its pretty weak. sure its pretty and adjustable and not so cheap but it is NOT powerful.

I have a prime LED should i set it above where they live?

I also have 2 3ft halide lights on my 6 ft that is currently freshwater but plan to make it salt in future but they will take alot of work fitting as my 4 ft tank lights are built into my hood and it has filtration system on top that would have to be removed to fit the halide lights

 

[hotelbravo]

I don't think the prime will really do anything good.
you should research to lighting requirements for anemones. a lot of people recommend 3 watts per 1 gallon so in a 75 gallon you should be looking at 225 watts of light.
though the watts per gallon rule are not always accurate they are a great general guideline. the halides would help but the size of your would make things difficult.

 

[dbl]

Any BTA experts (I am not) want to comment on the salinity listed above, 1.020. Seems low but I'm not sure if that is a contributing factor/cause of the described behavior. Just an observation.

 

[hotelbravo]

Any BTA experts (I am not) want to comment on the salinity listed above, 1.020. Seems low but I'm not sure if that is a contributing factor/cause of the described behavior. Just an observation.

it seemed low to me but ive had my salinity that low for a few weeks and my anemone did not show any signs of discomfort. i usually keep my salinity at 1.025/1.026

 

[Bent]

Here's my opinion.

Your salinity is way too low. It needs to be 1.026.

BTAs typically hate salinity swings. Raise it slowly. If you don't have an ATO, you need to get one. The sudden increase and decrease of manually topping off your tank is stressful. If you have to do it manually, top it off daily, religiously.

BTAs are not a fan of the po4. I find that The higher the po4 gets over .03ppm the more the nems seem to shrivel. I do not have any physiology to explain why. It's just an observation.

Your lighting is not near adequate. Take the halides off that stupid freshie tank and put it over your BTAs, they will not survive with your current LED setup.

I see no Dkh or Ca numbers. You have to know your alkalinity relative to your calcium level for the BTAs to be happy. With a Ph of 8.0 it's probably fine, but it's hard to say for sure. The BTAs will not survive with a dKh less than 8. They don't care so much about the pH. The alkalinity is more important. They also don't do well with alkalinity swings either.

Stop feeding them weird crap. Just get some frozen shrimp, scallops, and clams from the store. Thaw it and chop them up into cubes about twice as big as the mouth and feed that. I usually feed mine twice a week. Alternate them.

IME the biggest thing that nems are intolerant of the most is temperature swings. They hate changes in temps. BTAs are more tropical, so they also like the temp to be closer to 80. I keep mine set on 80, but Some will even go as high as 82. Wherever you keep it, don't alter it by more than 2 degrees. No "cold showers" from water changes. Make sure your new water temp and salinity match the DT 100% dead on before you change it. I also suggest buying a ranco heater controller and using it to control your heater. It will keep it within 1 degree.

 

[hotelbravo]

Here's my opinion.

Your salinity is way too low. It needs to be 1.026.

BTAs typically hate salinity swings. Raise it slowly. If you don't have an ATO, you need to get one. The sudden increase and decrease of manually topping off your tank is stressful. If you have to do it manually, top it off daily, religiously.

BTAs are not a fan of the po4. I find that The higher the po4 gets over .03ppm the more the nems seem to shrivel. I do not have any physiology to explain why. It's just an observation.

Your lighting is not near adequate. Take the halides off that stupid freshie tank and put it over your BTAs, they will not survive with your current LED setup.

I see no Dkh or Ca numbers. You have to know your alkalinity relative to your calcium level for the BTAs to be happy. With a Ph of 8.0 it's probably fine, but it's hard to say for sure. The BTAs will not survive with a dKh less than 8. They don't care so much about the pH. The alkalinity is more important. They also don't do well with alkalinity swings either.

Stop feeding them weird crap. Just get some frozen shrimp, scallops, and clams from the store. Thaw it and chop them up into cubes about twice as big as the mouth and feed that. I usually feed mine twice a week. Alternate them.

IME the biggest thing that nems are intolerant of the most is temperature swings. They hate changes in temps. BTAs are more tropical, so they also like the temp to be closer to 80. I keep mine set on 80, but Some will even go as high as 82. Wherever you keep it, don't alter it by more than 2 degrees. No "cold showers" from water changes. Make sure your new water temp and salinity match the DT 100% dead on before you change it. I also suggest buying a ranco heater controller and using it to control your heater. It will keep it within 1 degree.

i agree with all the above except the po4 theory. my tank has had po4 between 0.10-0.55 for over a year and my BTAs are just fine. i keep my po4 high to feed my macro algae

 

[Bent]

i agree with all the above except the po4 theory. my tank has had po4 between 0.10-0.55 for over a year and my BTAs are just fine. i keep my po4 high to feed my macro algae

Holy crap man. How are you not covered in hair algae? I have a ball of chaeto the size of my leg, my po4 hangs out around .02-.04 and I'm still getting hair algae.

But, like I said, I have no basis for the po4 statement other than my anecdotal experience. Maybe they just get used to the tanks "norm" and respond when it gets out of whack?

 

[hotelbravo]

Holy crap man. How are you not covered in hair algae? I have a ball of chaeto the size of my leg, my po4 hangs out around .02-.04 and I'm still getting hair algae.

But, like I said, I have no basis for the po4 statement other than my anecdotal experience. Maybe they just get used to the tanks "norm" and respond when it gets out of whack?

i have virtually no algae growth in the display but tons of green hair algae, brown hair algae, turf algae, cyano etc in the sump. i grow hamildia, graciliara, caulerpa, dragon's breath, and chaeto. chaeto is by far the slowest grower.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

I commented before reading the rest of the thread. I agree with the others 100%

 

[shifty51008]

My main tank's sg is 1.021 and the btas are fine, but i do agree that 1.026 is much better. I keep mine low for breeding reasons though.

I beleive the problem is the lights, i would if possiable put the mh over top the tank, they will be much happier.

If you want to feed the anemone use PE mysis.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

I keep my tank at 1.025-1.026 and my nems are happy :dance:

I just wish those Perculas would hop in bed with the nems

 

[C3hutson]

BTAs are pretty resilient in my experience as far as parameters go. It's the lights. Buy some reef breeders if you aren't looking at doing SPS (mine haven't been doing great for that, but that's a whole other rant).